Transcript

1.
enGauge 21st Century Skills
Literacy in the Digital Age
Cheryl Lemke, CEO, Metiri Group
Ed Coughlin, Senior Vice President, Metiri Group
Dr. Vandana Thadani, Associate, Metiri Group
Crystal Martin, Research Associate, Metiri Group
Metiri Group
1801 Avenue of the Stars, Suite 426
Los Angles, CA 90067
www.metiri.com
This publication is based on the work commissioned by the North Central Regional Educational Laboratory
through the Metiri Group, a Los Angeles, California-based learning and technology consulting firm. The
Metiri team that conducted the research on the 21st Century skills and wrote this publication included:
Cheryl Lemke, CEO; Ed Coughlin, Senior Vice-President; Dr. Vandana Thadani, Associate; and Crystal
Martin, Research Associate. http://www.metiri.com

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Message to the Reader
Today’s school leaders face a serious dilemma: Communities expect their
graduates to be ready to thrive in the Digital Age, but the 21 st century skills such
success requires are not well defined. Nor are those skills included in many state
learning standards or measured on most state and local assessments.
The current era of high-stakes testing will have a positive impact on students only
if we get the metrics right. Without 21st century skills, students are being prepared
to succeed in yesterday’s world – not tomorrow’s.
Schools must do more to keep pace with rapid technology, research, and societal
changes. To ensure that students will be ready to thrive in today’s knowledge-
based, global society, three significant things need to occur:
1) The public must acknowledge 21st century skills as essential to the
education of today’s learner
2) Schools must embrace new designs for learning based on emerging
research about: how people learn, effective uses of technology, and 21st
century skills in the context of rigorous academic content
3) Policymakers must base school accountability on assessments that
measure both academic achievement and 21st century skills
This publication represents an important first step toward digital-age readiness.
Readers are invited to use the enGauge 21st Century Skills as a platform for the
shifts in school policy and practices necessary to give our students the education
they require in a knowledge-based, global society.

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EXTRA! EXTRA!! THE WORLD IS DIFFERENT!
THE Farmers are checking soil moisture from their
WORKPLACE: handhelds and factory workers are guiding robots…
Teachers are serving as facilitators, exploring with
EDUCATION:
their students the vast world of ideas and
information…
More efficient systems are linking together county,
HEALTH CARE:
state, and federal facilities, accelerating the study,
diagnosis, and treatment of diseases through
networked applications and medical databases…
Officials are gaining access to instantaneous
PUBLIC SAFETY:
emergency response information and
interoperation of critical equipment regardless of
jurisdiction…
Free and universal access to information is
GOVERNMENT:
increasing for all citizens, whose informed opinions
are in turn shaping policy and fostering greater
global democracy…
Ethical issues are no longer just about right and
ETHICS:
wrong, but also about informed choices between two
rights – such as doing all we can to save lives and
allowing people to die with dignity…
Sources: Cornish, Edward, ed. Exploring Your Future. World Future Society, 1996: pp.
7-11; Computer Systems Policy Project. Building the Foundation of the Networked
World, 2000: p. 8.